The Bet
by Collie Parkillo
Summary: It all starts when Murumuru, daughter of the third richest man in America, makes a bet with possible arsonist Houjou Reisuke that she'll be able to get Akise and Yukiteru together before he can get Yuno and Yukiteru together. And Murumuru never, ever loses bets, and she definitely isn't going to be losing this one. [A high school AU for a series already about high schoolers.]
1. Chapter 1

Murumuru twirled one strand of badly dyed violet hair around her finger as she watched the students of Sakurami High departing from their final afternoon classes. She could spot at least three fashion disasters and more than a few social outcasts. She sighed, playing disinterestedly with her fuzzy pink pen. It was _tough_ being the well-endowed adopted daughter of the third richest man in America.

"Hey, you dropped your notebook on the stairs." Murumuru looked up, then raised her eyebrows. Houjou Reisuke. Fourteen years old and still buying his clothing from Children's Place.

"That's not mine."

Reisuke snickered. "Why's it got your name in it, then?"

"You looked in my notebook?!"

"Just the first page!" Reisuke backed away quickly, obviously valuing his life."Be glad an elite like myself found it and not some trashy senior like Amano Yukiteru."

Murumuru sniffed. "Yuki's not trashy. That _bitch_ Gasai Yuno is, though."

"Are you serious?" Reisuke sat down next to her on the park bench that was apparently dedicated to the class of 1993. Murumuru looked down at his bag and scooted as far away from him as she could. God, what was the guy going to do with a pair of wire cutters and rat poisoning? "They're _adorable_ together."

"You're gross, I can see why you'd like such a gross couple." She was about to go on when she noticed a distinctive garish orange jacket and uneven haircut coming down the sidewalk. "Shh."

"Wh-" Murumuru clamped a hand over Reisuke's mouth. The pair of freshmen watched in silence as Yukiteru passed by them. The boy's eyes were glued to his phone, as usual. He appeared to be kicking stones across the sidewalk, not really looking at them.

When she was sure he was out of earshot, Murumuru released Reisuke's mouth and let out a long sigh. "Look at how sad he is. He's practically a walking black raincloud. He needs someone to make him happy. Which Gasai Yuno can't. I heard she tried to blow up Uryuu Minene in chemistry once."

"Isn't Uryuu Minene currently suspended for bringing dynamite to school?"

_"Exactly."_ She sighed again. "Gasai Yuno can't make anyone happy, let alone Yukiteru. But you know who can?"

"I don't think I want to know."

"Aru Akise."

Reisuke's spat out the gum he'd been laboriously chewing. _What a gross guy,_ Murumuru thought to herself. _Probably an arsonist, too, judging by what he has in his bag._ "What?! That would never work! I'm an elite! I would know!"

"An elite in what? Call of Duty?"

"Look, Yuki needs someone with a taste for adventure like he has. Someone who's _exciting_ and dangerous. Aru Akise's b_or-ing."_

"Excuse me? He's done detective work for the local police. That's pretty exciting. Also, he dresses well. Gasai Yuno looks like she borrowed clothing from both her mom and some town prostitute."

"How do you know Yuki's even gay?!"

"Idiot! You don't have to be gay for boys' love!" Murumuru had taken on a slightly creepy expression reminiscent to the way one looks at a particularly adorable kitten. "And there are more than two sexualities, anyways!"

_"Boys' love?"_ Reisuke didn't even attempt to disguise his sniggering. "You are so delusional. Trust the word of an elite like me."

"Why do you keep using that stupid word?"

"Because I'm an elite and you're just some...some...midget with a spray tan!"

"Excuse me! I'm four foot three and my tan's real!" Murumuru had moved in closer to Reisuke, and she couldn't help thinking that this was exactly like the sort of thing that happened in cheerleading drama movies.

Reisuke pouted. "Anyways, you're delusional. Akise and Yuki would never even get along, let alone work as a couple. You've just been reading too much of that gross yaoi crap."

"So? Have you seen how Akise looks at him in the hallway? And how he always makes an excuse to bring him into conversation? That boy's got it _baaaad."_

"Oh, yeah? Well, Yuki and Yuno walk home together every day and I saw them holding hands in the hallway once!"

Murumuru shook her head. "You're seeing things that aren't there, Reisuke. Yuno drags him everywhere like he's her credit card and the world's a shopping mall. There's not a smidgeon of affection on his side." She stared off at the path leading away from their high school, which was dotted with fallen leaves and forgotten candy wrappers. "See? Look at them. Marco Ikusaba and Ai Mikami. They know about love."

"How do you know the names of random seniors?"

"Marco's my math tutor, okay? He always brings Ai with him, wherever they go. They're so _cuh-yute._ That's real romance right there. Did you know they've won cutest couple in the school newspaper every year since they entered high school? I dunno who everyone will vote for after they graduate."

"Yukiteru and Yuno!" Reisuke said gleefully.

"Shut up, oh my god! I don't think Gasai Yuno even has the word cute in her vocabulary."

"Alright, we've argued for like fifteen minutes straight, we've got to settle this like elites." Reisuke leaned closer to Murumuru, and she noted that he had a few creepy-looking felt finger puppets sticking out of his messenger bag.

"What''s up with those puppets?"

Reisuke shut his bag quickly. "Nothing, okay. I told you, I'm an elite. Now answer my question already."

Murumuru folded her arms contemplatively. "I think...I think...a bet. How much do you think?"

"One hundred."

"Two hundred!"

"Three hundred!"

"Five hundred!" Murumuru shouted.

Reisuke raised his eyebrows. "Five hundred bucks just on a _couple?"_

Murumuru rolled her eyes. "My dad's the third richest man in America. He's got a shaving cream company. I should give you his business card in case you ever hit puberty."

"Hey!"

"He has all these stupid slogans like 'makes you feel godly.' You should try it." She looked at Reisuke's deeply reddening face. Contrasted with his strawberry blond hair, she couldn't help thinking that he looked a bit like a strawberry. "No? Okay. Anyways, five hundred dollars. What are the parameters?"

"If you can get Yuki and Akise together by next Thursday, I pay you. If I get Yuno and Yuki together by next Thursday, you pay me."

"Isn't next Thursday a little soon? It's Wednesday today and...you know, relationships take awhile to get going. Not that you'd know, of course." Reisuke's blush deepened.

"Next Thursday or no deal."

"You're on." Murumuru reluctantly shook his hand to seal the deal in a way that the thicker boy would understand. She gathered her bags and stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a limo to catch."

Little did any of them know, things were about to get very, _very_ interesting for the students of Sakurami High.

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**okay okay hear me out i know this is stupid but high school aus are my lifeblood alright**

**if it wasnt clear already reisuke and murumuru are freshmen, yuki/yuno/akise are juniors, and marco and ai are seniors. yeah. stupid high school drama woohoo.**


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Murumuru noticed the day after the day of the fateful bet was where Aru Akise went for lunch. The boy tended to conveniently slip away from the crowd of people in the cafeteria and off in the direction of the sports field. The throng of girls chattering around her was somewhat hard to escape, so Murumuru decided to use her popularity for good.

"D'you know what sports practice this period?"

"Oh, football!" Kuroneko, a blond girl who'd thrown on far too much makeup today in Murumuru's opinion, spoke up. "Ouji Kousaka's on that team. He is _such_ a hunk."

"Do you who else is on the team?"

"Why d'you wanna know?" Someone else chimed in, grinning. "Have you got a _crush?"_

Murumuru laughed. "As if. I just want to know for a friend, okay? Who's on the football team other than Kousaka? Is...Is Amano Yukiteru on the football team?"

Kuroneko giggled. "Yeah, I think so. He's not very good though. He looks like his shoulder pads are gonna swallow him whole or something! Poor kid."

Murumuru's eyes lit up. "Aha! Thanks, guys!" She gave a little ta-ta wave for effect, then smiled, tossed her hair, and set off towards the sports field, leaving her friends looking somewhat dumbfounded. Halfway there it hit her that she'd forgotten her lunch, but that was a less pressing issue than the one at hand.

The sports field was a bit of a multipurpose space, hence the vague name 'sports field.' The football team was practicing there, but Murumuru was sure she spotted several people stretching and a few couples having some sort of picnic. The tall, silver bleachers that surrounded it were mostly vacant, but when she squinted she spotted the skinny, jacket-clad shape of Aru Akise on one of the lower bleachers with...Houjou Reisuke?

Murumuru broke into a jog, cutting across the sidelines and quickly making her way up the bleachers. "Hey, Reisuke, what're you doing here?" She tried to make the phrase sound as casual as possible, but she supposed that most everything she said to Reisuke sounded somewhat menacing.

"Oh, nothing, just talking." He seemed to be attempting to contain his giggling, and Murumuru tried to make herself look a bit more intimidating by standing akimbo and pouting her lips in a way that usually made most boys laugh uncomfortably. "Akise here eats by himself all the time, you know? It's a little sad."

"You know, Reisuke, I think you'd better leave. I think Akise needs some company from someone who doesn't do illegal things in their free time."

Akise seemed to be lost in thought, and was staring down at the football field with a transfixed expression. "What do you say, Akise?" Reisuke prodded the white-haired boy.

"Ohuh?" Akise looked a bit startled. "Oh, hello, Murumuru. I apologize, I don't think I was listening to what either of you were saying." He laughed quietly, as though he'd just told himself a joke in thought. "In fact, Reisuke, I don't believe I was really listening to any of what you were saying." He punctuated this sentence with a charming smile, and Reisuke reddened visibly.

"Alright, fine, if nobody's listening to me, maybe I'll just leave! You don't deserve my elite company!" He glared at Murumuru and stormed off, his footsteps making large banging sounds on the bleachers.

"What a toddler, honestly." Murumuru snorted. "So, Akise, I was just wondering, like, why do you come up here all the time? You've got a lot of friends, right? Like, Hinata and Mao and Kousaka and all."

"I do, of course."

"Do you just like football or something?" She tried to look as nonthreatening as she possibly could, which was difficult when you had a permanent scowl like hers.

Akise laughed again. "Well, to be quite honest, I hate football. I think it's pure brutality with very little strategy involved and only idiots and those desperate to fit in play it."

"Well, why do you come up here then?"

"Because…" Akise shifted uncomfortably. "I enjoy the view."

"The view of what?"

"...Football."

Murumuru burst into a fit of giggling. "You just said you hated football!"

Akise looked around somewhat nervously. He wasn't blushing; Murumuru didn't think someone as pale as he was could blush. "Well...I suppose I enjoy watching it from time to time, you know?"

"You know what I think?"

"I don't believe I want to."

Murumuru laughed. "You're funny, Akise, y'know? You're a really cool guy. You could definitely get it with Amano Yukiteru."

Akise opened his mouth, then closed it again. "What?" Murumuru had been wrong; it was possible for Aru Akise to blush. It was sort of ridiculous looking contrasted with the strange crimson color of his eyes, but she could definitely see how he could be considered cute. _(Damn it, I'm getting him Yuki, not getting him with me.)_

"I think you and Yuki would be great together." She scooted closer to him. "He's cute, isn't he? He's a good football player, too." Well, that was a lie, but she could afford to take some liberties here, couldn't she?

"Yeah," Akise said dreamily, head in his hands.

"Aha, there we are. You love Yuki, riiight?"

"I don't..." The boy who was known around school for having the perfect comeback for everything looked comically flustered. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look at him out there." Murumuru jabbed her finger at Yuki, who was fumbling awkwardly for the ball from Ouji Kousaka. Kuroneko was right, he did look a bit like his shoulder pads were swallowing him, and he tripped every few steps, but it was sort of endearing, she supposed. "Doesn't he look cute in his uniform?"

Akise chewed his lip, obviously to look like he wasn't listening. Murumuru had to admit that Akise was right, football wasn't a very interesting sport to watch. The team just ran back and forth. Honestly, there really wasn't anything to see. Murumuru felt an idea forming in her head, and smiled to herself.

Just as Yuki stumbled awkwardly past them, Murumuru made sure Akise was still in his daydreaming-about-beloved-Yukiteru trance and kicked one of the players' water bottles at him. Yukiteru stopped too quickly, his foot hitting the water bottle, and toppled over like a human Jenga block.

"Akise, look he fell over!"

Akise turned around, a look of concern suddenly on his face. "What?"

"He fell over. Help him up!" Murumuru grinned and elbowed him in the ribs. "He probably has to sit out for a bit now. Look, he's got a bruise on his knee. Help him up!" Akise seemed to forget about his constant denial and practically jumped off of the bench and ran out onto field.

Murumuru smirked, then got up to go and finish her lunch. Her work here, for the moment, was done.

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**there arent really any named background characters in mn so i just had to make up some of murumurus friends lmao**

**an update at long last hooray i have christmas break so i can do whatever i want. my city now. yeah im gonna update a bunch of stuff and all that. anyways i hope you enjoyed this and really thank you for all the kind reviews! **


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